Rune with a View
by Lansar1
Summary: Fifth year, just what is the secret Harry has kept since he was five?


**Rune with a View**

**Don't own it!**

I am Harry Potter, most of you know me. Many know of my history, as penned by J. K. Rowling. You know of the events that led me to The Department of Mysteries. What most of you don't know is I have a secret. This secret I have kept since I was five years old. This secret was crafted by my parents, before their untimely demise. They, sort of, held the philosophy of 'hope for the best, plan for the worst.' My secret, well, I like to call it my rune with a view. It has to be the most complex and intricate piece of magic, I have yet to see and, truth be told, I really wasn't meant to find it until much later.

You see the official view of my parents differs greatly from the reality. My father was good at transfiguration and my mother at charms, officially. Little is mentioned about their jobs, hobbies, and the like. Unofficially, they held masteries in nearly every field of magic and worked as Unspeakables, in this very department. Oh, they didn't each have these masteries, but between them they had it covered. They brought their formidable knowledge together to create a 'last ditch' option for me. It had two parts which I shall label as the rune and the view.

The rune its self was a masterpiece. It was a combination of several different runes and charms. Overall it had one main purpose, to ready me to fulfill the prophesy, should they pass on. Oh it had many components, but that was the main goal. The view, on the other hand, was set up to help train me and maintain my health, allowing me to complete my task in the best possible way. Well, I will get into specifics later.

Another secret, known only to two people was the true reason for Mrs. Figg's presence in Little Winging. You see she too used to work for the DoM and was a great friend to my parents. It is thanks to her I even knew my name. She gave me what information she could, she kept up to date through various pet shops and the like. She was really a squib, if you are wondering. That didn't stop her ability to research or gather information. In fact she was in the espionage side of the DoM, for that reason.

Dumbledore, convinced of her loyalty, set her up to monitor me. As you may have guessed, her reports were dismissed as normal childhood problems and not the abuse they really were. If that man has one major flaw, it's his belief that all people are good, if given a chance. It blinds him to things he should otherwise see, but enough of that. Another guess you may have made is that I knew way more about the wizarding world than I let on. This was a plan all of my own making. If you thought Dumbledore played his cards close to the vest, well I swallowed mine.

The rune, you see, was set to activate under specific conditions. First, and most important, I could not be seen when it was used. The others were my physical condition and age, initially. It was set to automatically activate when I was eleven, before my trip to Hogwarts or another school. It had a failsafe, however, well it had many but specifically any dangerous drop in my health could cause it to activate prematurely. After the initial activation, I was more in control of its use.

It is sad to think, that after only four years in the Dursley's care, that failsafe was triggered. All I remember was being burned with a pan, beaten for the incident, and being tossed roughly into 'my room'. This does not take into account my lack of food for days before or the other previous 'punishments'. The rune activated and transported me to the view. I really don't remember much of my stay there but in hindsight I can give a rough description of it.

The view is basically a large complex, similar to a warehouse. It exists in a pocket dimension, much like the inside of multi-compartment trunks. It is divided into sections based on purpose, surrounded by gardens and green houses, and staffed by the Potter house-elves, as well as portraits. I spent the equivalent of three weeks there the first time. The elves healed my wounds, treated my nutritional deficiency, and spent much time helping me emotionally. They're really great, if you ask me. Did you know elves adhere so strongly to their master's will that their entire development and intelligence levels revolve around it? Well, we'll talk more on that later. It goes without saying; the elves here were a well rounded and educated bunch. When I was healed, roughly after two weeks, I spent time talking to the two people I desired most to meet. My parent's portraits, while not the real thing, helped my healing even more than the elves. They were not happy with my situation but rather quickly reasoned out its purpose. Still, blood wards seem to be a poor trade for a childhood.

I was in for another shock upon my return. You see, the rune incorporated a time dilation effect. While for me it had been three weeks, only three hours had passed. This thing is simply amazing. While in the pocket dimension, I physically age only the time that passes on the outside. I could and have spent two months inside in only one night, simply outstanding.

It incorporates a charm that duplicates my magical signature and a rune to create a 'double' that will remain at my point or entry/departure. This is to cover the fact I am missing and act as a failsafe should someone look in on me. The double can so things if absolutely necessary but the rune is set to return me should someone get nosey. At the worst the double would have to function if I am suffering from a 'training' accident. At the most it would only be an hour; the elves can heal almost anything serious in a week. Of course that function has yet to be used.

The funny thing is the healing aspect of the rune will only work if help is not readily available. In my time at Hogwarts it has only activated once, fourth year at the end of the tournament. It is a strange sensation using one form of transportation and being diverted to another. In the span of the return portkey trip I was sent to the healing wing of the view, treated for most of my injuries, and sent back. It took only seconds of real time. The elves are good, let me tell you. They only partially treated my wounds, as not to arouse suspicion, and used their own brand of magic to do so (untraceable by wizards).

God I love those little buggers. Without their help, I could well have joined Cedric before we reached Hogwarts. You have heard the accounts? They don't even come close to what really happened. Funny thing is I am the only one who seemed to remember the truth. I think it had something to do with the priori incantatem, who knows. Let's just say it was a more pitched battle and leave it at that, knowledge will go only so far without experience. The last being the one thing I was really lacking in. Oh, I had it in a controlled situation, by then, but not in a pitched battle. Good thing is I'm a fast learner, especially in life and death situations.

Now, to put things in perspective, by fifth year I could have comfortably had around 600 years to study and train. This is assuming I used the rune for eight hours each night, giving me two months at a time. In reality, I have no idea the true amount of time I used. Could be that but was probably way less. The magic required for both the rune and view, while not insignificant, was in no short supply. My parents had tied it to the wards and property of Potter Manor. The manor, like Hogwarts, was built on a convergence of major lay lines. So feasibly, I could have spent many lifetimes in the view by the time I even reached Hogwarts.

There was only a small snag, I found it too soon. There is a reason you start magical education at eleven. That is generally when your core is stable enough to withstand casting spells, it varies some but that is the accepted median. Mine was stable at ten; Crabbe and Goyle were in second year.

This doesn't mean I didn't learn, oh I learned believe you me. I just didn't get to practice spells until I was ten. Until then, I learned any subject that didn't require spell casting, or at least depend on it. It also goes without mentioning, mom being muggle-born allowed for my muggle education as well. Down playing your intelligence is a very hard thing to accomplish. I mean at eleven I could have had several muggle doctorates, in fact I think I will after this war is over. You see the elves, in their voracity to serve, have kept up to date with both worlds.

I learned things from simple math and languages to advanced astrophysics and politics, and that was just the muggle subjects. I learned things from both worlds that would be labeled 'top secret'. Did you know that there really is a British secret agent named James Bond; he is not flashy like in the movies but hey. I mean what 'secret agent' would go around announcing it? There were things neither the muggle nor magical governments wanted to get out, most I can see why. Like I said, these elves are good. On the magical side I learned things like potions, history, divination, alchemy, runes, arithmancy, herbology, creatures, magical languages, law, and more. As long as it didn't require casting, I studied it. Well, I learned theory, wand movements, and the like, just not actual casting. I also learned physical forms of defense and offence, martial arts, sword fighting, and the like. All this sounds ridiculous, I know, but I had plenty of time, remember. It didn't just pop into my head one day.

I was taught my family history by both Mrs. Figg and my parents' portraits. I absolutely loved it. Did you know both the Evans and Potter families were predominantly warriors and leaders? The Evans family males had all served, in some capacity, in one branch so the armed services or another. The Potters were much the same. They each had members that had been knighted at some point, just amazing. Yes, the Potters had some relation to Gryffindor; I'm not sure what but in the relatively small magical population, it doesn't surprise me. I mean look with the cousins marrying thing, it's bound to happen right? The deal with the sword in second year was more about the qualities I displayed than any blood ties.

A few things I found interesting were we are rich, well invested, and have plenty of properties. My parents chose Godric's Hollow because of the size and limited knowledge of its location. It was a rather modest house, after all, and easy to ward. Oh, I knew about Peter's betrayal and learned from history books about Sirius. There was information in my possession that could free him; in fact it was used at the end of third year, in secret. Amazing what being the BWL can be good for. That still didn't change my living arrangements, at my request. The protections were good and I lived with the situation long enough to deal with it.

See, one of the properties was number four; it had been left to my mother. She made arrangements to sell it at a reduced rate to Petunia and Vernon. After her death, they stopped paying thinking she would leave the house to them. The goblins had been instructed to ignore the situation until l decided how to deal with it. They had discussed the possibility of me being put there, regardless of their wishes and left this and one other thing to be used as leverage, for my benefit. Granted, I had to be old enough to understand how to use it, but it would be there.

The other piece was simple; we owned the controlling share of my uncles company. The account manager for the Potters had similar instructions to the goblins; well he was one, but still. He was to gather evidence, if there was any, of any wrong doings Vernon committed to be used as well. It would seem most of this consisted of discrimination and verbal abuse, surprise there. Business wise he stayed on the up and up. Still, the evidence, little it may be, was enough to ruin his reputation in his clients' eyes. It wouldn't cost his job, but the fallout very well could. As a bonus the goblins were keeping an eye on Dudders also. Never know what would be useful after all. Let's just say, after second year, they were given several well placed hints and my time there greatly improved.

As a reward to them, still don't know why I did it, I let Vernon in on some investment advice the goblins gave me. He made a tidy profit and didn't bat an eye when I told him the source. "Money is Money" he told me. Guess nothing is 'freakish' where money is concerned. Oh, I still had chores and the like. This time though, so did Dudley. Seems they didn't take the pictures of his 'tea parties' cough-criminal activities-cough too well, especially when he tried to blame me. Leverage is such a wonderful thing to have (insert disquieting laugh).

We hadn't become buddies or anything like that. We had, however, developed a live and let live rapport. I had gone as far as to supply them with books that were given to most muggle-born parents, and they actually read them. Dudley even managed one; I was in shock for days. The up side to this came this year with the Dementor attack. They better understood what happened and why. Vernon apparently had started taking the Daily Prophet; he alerted me to the character assignation attempts by the Ministry, after all. Apparently, Dumbledore didn't include them in his news blackout. I managed to get Hermione on the phone to help them to St. Mungo's. She also agreed to keep it to herself. Knowing how the protections worked, Petunia stayed with me. The Grangers came and got Vernon and Dudley to take them. They were only gone a few hours and Dudley was right as rain again.

Funny thing about that, Vernon actually knew Dan and Emma through the business; dentists need drills after all. I think that after the experience they hatched plans to look into the pharmaceutical applications of potions, after all anyone can brew them. Between the three they might come up with something. When they later told Hermione and me, I offered to help fund the venture. Like Vernon said, money is money. Hermione even offered to do research, imagine that. While the Dursleys may never be considered accepting of the odd, they were learning to be more tolerant, at least, Petunia because of Dudley's recovery, Dudley from my use of magic to save us, and Vernon from a little of both and the money aspect.

Well, where was I, seem to have got off on a tangent. Ah yes, I remember know, my training. I would say by the time I reached Hogwarts; I had a good grasp of up to fifth year work in wanded subjects. Of course, I was beyond NEWT level probably near to Masters in the rest. I would still have to work to keep that level and stay on top of any new discoveries. During my time there, until now, I studied the more esoteric things like enchanting, wand making, warding, curse breaking, and spell crafting. Fascinating subjects, I believe I enjoyed their study the most. They were more practical to everyday life. I understand things like household charms and basic transfigurations are used regularly, but to create the tools and things everyone uses each day, simply fascinating. I had fun with painting and found music to be completely relaxing. Dumbledore was right about music; I'm completely enamored with it.

There is one thing I have yet to understand, and it isn't a subject or anything. How can the wizarding society have all this power and knowledge, yet not have progressed beyond the Victorian era, in Britain at least. I know that magic and electronics don't mix well, but still. The lifespan of wizards may well have something to do with it, but it can't be all there is to it. There are even ways in the States to get electronics to work with magic. Things like computers and e-mail, cell phones, heck even just the lighting would be major improvements. I mean horse drawn carriages, torches, and gas lights are very quaint but come on. The only thing wizards have on muggles, by way of connivances are a handful of charms 'warming, cooling, expansion, etc' and their bathrooms. Never felt cleaner in my life.

Take wizarding transportation:

The all use floo and portkey are the most disorientating and sickening experiences I have ever had.

Apparition not only uncomfortable but not all can do it and there is a chance of leaving important pieces behind.

Broom still not for everyone especially those with a fear of heights.

The closest thing to a car is the portkey of magic carpet.

Muggles:

Trains move moderate to large groups and supplies

Planes move large groups and supplies in relative safety

Automobiles family size transportation variations for specific uses.

Rockets, wizards still haven't come close to those. I don't think there is a fireplace on the moon.

You see they both have solutions; it is just most muggle ones, while taking time, don't make you feel like you have been through a whirlwind or squeezed out a water hose. Brooms are my preferred mode of wizarding transport so far, problem is some people can't take the openness of the ride, no safety nets. I have studied certain ancient modes that might be fun called portals. Apparently they don't exist anymore and no one knows how to make them. From the description they are like my rune, perhaps mom and dad can help me recreate them, would be worth some money.

According to the goblins, I need to be careful spouting off my ideas. I am losing money making opportunities doing that. See, I made an off-hand comment about them getting into roller coaster design, after visiting my vault the first time. Well, they seriously considered it and now have a very lucrative business doing just that, who knew? That comment alone earned their respect, a great finder's fee, and made them decide to assign someone just to review any new ideas I might have in the future. While they rightfully took the idea and made money, they do believe in good business. Goblins may be greedy little buggers but they are honest about it, especially when you have as much money as I do. If they lost my account, it would cause a chain reaction of withdrawals and closed accounts. Good business sense says keep me happy and that's what they do.

Now as to the rest of fifth year, you know about Snape's so called lessons. Trouble is I already mastered the discipline and its counterpart, a fact he is under oath not to reveal to anyone. We spent part of the time in mock lessons and the rest he and I worked on potions experiments. It was fun really, oh he despised me for a time but that changed. All I had to do was remind him of his oath to my mother. It wasn't like we were mates, but like the Dursleys we reached an agreement. His public face didn't change, for obvious reasons, and we were not alone in private beyond these lessons so it worked out fine. He actually informed me of the Horcruxes and Dumbledore's theories about my scar long before the old man even thought to, third year in fact. Not that I could do much with the information, we had no locations for them.

With my occlumency skills, I knew the vision from Voldemort was false. Problem was I needed to keep up appearances. Oh the important things were shielded, partially with my skill and partially due to the secrecy functions of the rune. Those functions were the reason Dumbledore was clueless as well. He is a very good legilimens and hard to deflect. Trick is to give them what they expect so they don't dig. I normally only used low level protections. My scar could bypass these but I would know. It would also allow me to discern the truth of the visions like the attack on Mr. Weasley. Good sources of information are hard to come by, you use what you get. Now as far as rushing off, I had already confirmed Sirius' location with the mirror. Did you really expect me to not open a present from him and forget about it?

Between myself, Sirius, Hermione, and Ron we came up with a plan. They as yet aren't in on my secrets but that is changing somewhat. Both Sirius and Hermione are catching on to me being smarter than I let on. Ron is seeing that I am not the total waste at strategy he thought. These are little things but they are a start. The plan was so simple. I would act like the vision was real and go into meltdown. Hermione would try to be the voice of reason. Sirius would alert Dumbledore and the Order. Well if you read the books you know most of it. Problem was simple didn't stay that way. I planned to go alone, which Hermione and Ron shot down. Then three became six when Neville, Luna, and Ginny joined. It snow balled from there and now we are in the Death chamber. The order is here and we are battling for our lives.

I managed to get one advanced spell of without anyone seeing it. It is essentially a safety net spell. I cast it over the Veil to prevent an accident from happening. If you ask me it was the best spell of the night. It was the only thing that saved Sirius from his own arrogance. He got lazy with Bella and her stunner would have sent him straight through it. I think it shocked them both at the time. She certainly wasn't using her normal spell selection with him, it was almost like kids playing and one nearly loses an eye or something.

Whatever, she ran after that and I gave chase. I didn't cast an unforgivable for the simple fact Sirius hadn't died. I did manage to injure her slightly; I was still trying to maintain my ruse after all. For a moment though, I know she saw the fire in my eyes. I believe it scared the pants off her. For that one brief moment, my mask slipped and she saw the promise of what could have been, if Sirius had passed the Veil. From then on she wanted to be away from me, far away. The feeling would pass, it would dull, but at that moment she saw death and it wasn't pretty.

Now we come to the last battles, Dumbledore was majestic in his fight against Voldemort. Where Tom was all about power; he was about finesse. It was the difference between cannon fire and a sniper rifle or throwing a bucket of paint at a canvas to painting a masterpiece. I am still awed by the experience. I can't really say Tom can't achieve the finesse or use those spells. I am sure he could; he just prefers the chainsaw to the scalpel. He has been and still is all about power. Oh he has it, but to waste it in such a manner is just a shame. Tom could have been a great force for the betterment of society but instead he chose to destroy it, pity really. What am I doing during all this? Trying not to get fried, that's what. The raw power alone is enough to make your hair stand on end. If a stray spell landed I would imagine I would look like a bird in a transformer. A loud pop and feathers flying around would be all that was left. I may know a lot and have trained a lot; but it pales in comparison to the two before me. God I would have loved to see Dumbledore and someone like Flamel duel, especially Flamel.

Well, my turn now, got to love the possession technique. He does not get full control. He thinks he has but that is the advantage of my technique, redirection. Getting him out is the problem. His mind is powerful and with the foothold of the Horcrux, rebuffing him is next to impossible. Love and friendship win the day. Those are two qualities I have in excess. This is what finally forced him to retreat. All of these things held him just long enough for Fudge to get there and spot him. Unfortunately, he still escaped. We did manage to at least capture most of the Death Eaters, minus Bellatrix.

The members of the DA that went were treated at Hogwarts, I was really worried about Hermione and Ron, and they got the worst of it. Dumbledore pulled me into his office to tell me about the prophesy. Then the fun really started and the shirt (minus the r) hit the fan.

The truth about Sirius was made public knowledge. Dumbledore and I received formal apologies from the Ministry and the Prophet. Believe it or not, the six of us received awards from the Ministry, not Order of Merlin but still. Then the time came for the inevitable, my revelation of a few of my secrets, not all mind you, but a few. The first had been how Sirius was pardoned and when. The second nearly cost me a friend. The last left an old man worried. None of these were the really big ones either.

The second that nearly cost me a friend, it was simple. You know my OWLs were that year. You probably know my scores even. Well I retook them after the official testing and received Os on every one offered. I managed to pull the BWL card again to get the second testing done in secret and the results sealed till after Voldemort was dealt with. I also did the same with NEWTs and got the same results. 

Technically, I was finished with Hogwarts. I still planed on returning; have to keep up appearances and all. I was just prepared if something happened. One of my friends was rather pissed with me when I told them. Guess which one. Hermione wouldn't speak to me for a week.

Loneliest week of my life that was, I think I am finally realizing just what she means to me. I was devastated when she was injured at the DoM and now this. Ron has been like a brother to me and she has been like a sister. I don't think that it is a romantic feeling because I lost it about Ron as well. It is still different; she has been my rock at school. She has weathered the storms with me and never let me down, unlike Ron. If I must compare the two of them, Ron is my best mate while she is my truest friend. Eh, thinking of all this mushy stuff just isn't my forte, one word 'Cho' disaster.

What has Dumbledore worried, well lots actually. Mainly he is worried about the protections he set up. He is afraid I will not go back to keep them. Oh, he knows I would be happier with Sirius; he just wants to keep me safe. No the main thing is I sort of cornered him into telling me about the Horcruxes. It sort of happened with me throwing around theories about my first encounter and the diary. I can be a tricky blighter when I want. Oh he sputtered, spewed, and turned paler than white-out but he eventually told me. He tested my occlumency first though. Strange, it was ok to reveal the prophesy but not this. He told me the theory on how the one in my scar would have to be destroyed and everything. First time in his life, I think, he has ever given straight answers.

Now, just so you know, I had studied the darker aspects of magic. Didn't particularly care for them but still. I probably had as much information on the creation and destruction of Horcruxes as Dumbledore. I might even have more. The elves of the view left little to chance. If they thought it would help, I had it. This doesn't even take into account my parents occupation.

Somehow they managed to get files and records that should have been classified for me. I think mom said they managed to get Croaker to classify me as a junior agent or something. Nothing official, mind you but it would allow them to share the information with me. It is too complicated for me. Regardless of my intellect I am still only fifteen. Girls and plans for each I like the kiss method. Long, over thought plans tend to fail spectacularly and girls, well that is self explanatory. Guess I need to get cracking on the study of Horcruxes. Maybe I can fit in some girl study as well, hm.


End file.
